Tag Archives: cannabis myths

Over in the US there’s a great organisation called Doobons (who recently changed their name to ‘United Patients Group’). They offer a free medical resource for alternative medicine, including medical marijuana. They tend to focus on helping find the right treatment for those people with terminal and acute diseases such as: Cancer, MS, severe pain, etc.

Even though this is a Brit blog I would urge you to check out their site and then wonder “why the hell have we nothing like this over here in the UK?”. I mean they offer all this free alternative medical advice to the needy…and heck they even have a free app to boot!

The reason I’m blogging about this organisation is that recently they have officially debunked a few cannabis myths that are circulating. For an organisation of this size and stature to be doing this certainly made me prick up my ears and take notice.

I’ll quote directly from John in bold below (John is the owner and founder of Doobons):

Myth #1: Cannabis is an addictive drug that poses significant health consequences to its users.

“Unlike many of the medicines frequently used, acute lethal overdoses of marijuana have not been reported and there is no research proving increased mortality attributable to chronic use. In fact, in a recent study, the Institute of Medicine concluded that, ‘Compared to most other drugs…dependence among marijuana users is relatively rare.’”

“I think it’s also really important for parents to understand that dispensaries are even harder for their teenagers to get into than nightclubs, not to mention the prices are higher,” said John. “There have also been studies that show a decrease in teens’ marijuana use since the legalization of medical cannabis in California, and no evidence supporting that the passage of Proposition 215 increased marijuana use.”

Myth #3: More access to medical marijuana for legitimate patients will increase the number of marijuana-related car crashes and fatalities.

“Similar to any other medication, medical marijuana patients are held accountable to the same standards and laws of those who take any medicine with the potential to impair coordination and decision-making. There are literally hundreds of prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs that can cause delayed reactions and drowsiness and should not be used while driving; medical marijuana is no different.”

Myth #4: Cannabis must be smoked in order to benefit from its medicinal components.

“In fact, there are several ways to use medical cannabis other than lighting and smoking it. The options for patients range from vaporizing and oils to edibles and medical cannabis pills. “It just depends on what the patient feels comfortable with and what works best for them.”

Myth #5: Medicinal cannabis is only used by teenagers.

United Patients Group has found that many of the people who visit the website are older patients that have never stepped foot inside a dispensary, or caregivers and parents of pediatric patients who desperately want to know all their options.

“United Patients Group has people from all over the world, from all walks of life calling us in need of direction and guidance, as they have days, not months or years, to wade through the ever changing laws and legislations of the cannabis world.”

A very interesting Q&A there, and I couldn’t agree more with John’s answers. I still firmly believe that these myths have been spun because of the powers-that-be – they want us to believe that cannabis is bad for us, is a gateway drug, causes mental problems, etc etc. But trust me people, just do a bit of research into this area, like I did, and that veil of lies is soon lifted. Sure, cannabis can be bad for you if you abuse it – it is a psychoactive drug after all, but there are so many uses for this plant, so many unexplored medical outlets, that it shouldn’t be vilified the way it is.